School Meme

This was a surprise…I was happily reading on Nilesh’s smoking days during class and once I reached at the bottom, there it was – a tag for me. Talking about the school days however inspired me to “just do it”. Here it goes…one before the weekend

Started in SRK La Salle Brickfields in 1980 (I remembered the year very clearly – I was in Standard One and one of the lessons for the day is shouting out the current year). It was all the way until Form 3 because the school’s highest level stopped at Form 3. After that, fellow “La Salleins” was scattered to other schools for Form 4.

A bulk of them including me joined a neighboring school, SMK Vivekananda. It was trying days for us – first it was a co-ed school which meant there was girls too (as I was saying very trying days for us), secondly we were moving towards SPM (form 5 – critical point in our school life) and finally the gangsterism in the school was high (I still recall that there will be a fight almost every Friday with the involvement of outsiders. It has toned down a lot these days)

Despite that, this was the best school that I ever attended – for one reason: I felt that I was just too good and was consistently passed with high marks.

After Form 5, it was time to move again – this time to SMK Methodist KL for my Form 6 studies. I did not fit well in the tradition and pace of education there – ended up being the class’ backward student, I did not complaint because it got pressure to do well off my back. I did well in some subjects – for others, I was dozing off in the classroom.

I barely made it through my STPM – I thought it was a sheer waste of time, all you need to do to memorise and you can answer do well in STPM. I rather wanted something where I am forced to think to answer. I got my wish when I enrolled in ATC for my Bachelor of Law. There, the rule of the game was – think to answer. I loved the whole 3 years when I was in ATC doing law – the girls were beautiful, the teachers were great and the subjects required good thinking.

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?

Due to the close “monitoring” by my parents, I was a studious nerd – no doubt about it. The only time I was last minute hero was when I was in Form 6. My parents trusted me enough to study hard which I did not do. In end, it was last work study, last minute handing up of assignments, last minute of everything.

Was I the class ‘taiko’ or the teacher’s pet?

I was neither…my classes had enough taikos and teacher’s pets. I and my friends were the backbenchers when it came to this.

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?

Being the “good” guy (ahem), there was no major rules that I broke when I was in school. The one that I remembered was…hold on, let me think…damn, nothing. Was I that perfect?

Oh wait, ok got one. There was a time I was bored in the Chemistry class, the teacher was not in, and so I started to draw some pictures on the table. The problem was the picture that I was drawing was a big as the table itself (the table in the lab was big – 6 of us shared one). Before I was caught (my classmates keep silent on the identity of the culprit), someone repainted all the tables – the evidence was “erased”.

Three subjects I enjoyed

Law
Pengajian Am
English

Don’t ask for details – sometimes it just depends on who is the teacher and who is the class with me.

Three teachers that inspired me

All from La Salle Brickfields and all from secondary school:-

Mr Anantha – My class teacher in Form 2. Funny guy and great mentor when we had personal problems
Master Lopez – The Senior Assistant when I was in Form 2. He inspired me on the beauty of English
Master Low – The class teacher in Form 1. He was also the “Sains Pertanian” teacher – very understanding and the guy who cleared away the cockroaches inside my desk after a great flood in my school (it was at a critical moment too – we were having our exams)

Also worth mentioning…

Dr Siva – The principal when I was in ATC (I remembered him when I watched Russell Peters). He inspired me on lateral thinking or was it on superb jokes that he often told in the case – whichever the case was, his classes was fun

I will pass “the baton” on to:-

Yvy (if she is not been tagged by now)Project 8555 (this will be interesting to see)Din (since 8555 been tagged, might as well tag the master)Ganesh (just for fun)

I started school at La Salle Brickfields in 1957. ( Standard one ) Mr. Pak Eng was my teacher. Then we were the pioneers at La Salle PJ. Those were the days. Now I am 60 living in the US working with NASA in Huntsville AL. Guess I am too old to join the gang !! Write me: (shankar at hiwaay dot net)

I was your brother – Christopher Jong’s & Chong Cheng Wei’s classmate. Would appreciate if you could assist by informing your brother to get in touch with me at nagulan@hlbb.hongleong.com.my or at 03-21692819. Cheers!!

Gonna try to revive this thread now. Bloody hell! wonder what took me so long to stumble upon this blog. Bala, hey its me la who was your scout senior. Harvinder was the other fella who moved to Bentong in Form 3.

Akash Lal was never quite a scouts. Maybe for a few days.

Basil Jong, I was your junior in the scout troop but am sure you remember me. Anyways will try to catch you all up on facebook. look me up there.
arvind..

Hi Bala, my god.. So much of memories.. You used to sit next to me in Std 1 Biru, i think.. Was always amazed how you could draw a car so well then.. Jaya has a great memory.. At Std 4 we were called the superstars and given a seperate table and area in the classroom for the wrong reasons.. Lol